Themes Explored and Skills Embraced:
Dandelions. We shared a lovely story about the humble dandelion and how it is the wish-granting flower for children everywhere, a favourite among the flower fairies. We shared this story as we enjoyed eating the dandelion bread we made last week.
Exploration. We followed curiosity to new areas and found a wonderful old tree with a hollow for us to investigate. We also found culverts down which, Parker especially, fed dandelions to dragons (whose gurgling tummies we could hear).
Focusing on leadership and explorer skills; looking out for each other as we explored the slippery wet slopes and staying together as a group.
Yellow Mustard Flower. We identified and tasted "spicy" yellow mustard flowers on the hill. Reactions on whether it was delicious were split...
Tool work. Our tool circle under the tree felt very special today. Archer was fort building. Parker was very proficient with the saw and rasp. Neil was enamoured with his super hammer (a big rubber mallet) and had a plan to decorate a tree. And Olive made a colourful decorated block with nails.
Slack line. This fun physical challenge was a huge hit and developed balancing skills and confidence with risk. As children felt increasingly secure with falling off they more challenging maneuvers and balance positions.
Weaving. Our weaving tapestry projects are proving to be a popular activity with the skill and coordination required meeting most children at the appropriate level of challenge. Today we used strips of fabric and feathers on our cardboard looms to make some beautiful creations. Olive's is intended as a phone bag.
Goat's Beard. We found Goat's beard and discussed what we noticed about it. Neil noticed it has a big yellow flower like dandelion. This plant is edible when cooked.
Woodpeckers. The chance meeting with a Downy Woodpecker gave us the opportunity to observe it at length, theorise about what it was doing and sing our woodpecker song.
Games. Having a full class made for some joyful games. The old favourite "What's the time Mr. Wolf" was requested and greatly enjoyed. Today's iteration of the game involved a team of wolves working together...it was a lot of fun!
Connection Questions
- Did you think the taste of mustard flowers reminded you of hot dogs?
- What was the Downy Woodpecker doing?
- Did you like the flavour of the dandelion bread you made?
- What is special about dandelions, why were they the flower fairies' favourite in the story?
- What did you discover on your adventures?
- Did you play on the slack line? Was it fun?
